Norm Conflict in Climate Governance: Greenhouse Gas Accounting and the Problem of Consumption

Paul G. Harris and Jonathan Symons
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Paul G. Harris: Paul G. Harris is Chair Professor of Global and Environmental Studies at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.
Jonathan Symons: Jonathan Symons is a Lecturer in International Relations at La Trobe University, Australia.

Global Environmental Politics, 2013, vol. 13, issue 1, 9-29

Abstract: Accounting rules used for compiling national greenhouse gas inventories play a significant role in constituting the global climate change regime's character. These rules have major political and policy implications. Production-based accounting and national production-based emissions targets contribute to the deadlock in climate negotiations by deflecting attention away from consumption patterns and by accentuating tensions among the climate regime's underlying norms. These dynamics contribute to inefficient domestic mitigation policies, conflict over the norm of “common but differentiated responsibility,” weak international agreements, and continued political neglect of consumption as a driver of emissions. In contrast, consumption-based emissions accounting would shift attention from production to consumption. Consumption-based targets could potentially provide an alternative path by which differentiated responsibility could be implemented. Adoption of consumption-based inventories might also prompt reappraisal of underlying norms and opposing conceptions of justice among states. © 2013 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Keywords: greenhouse gas; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q54 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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